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Happy Cottage Quilter just posted about Singer's 160th anniversary website. There's lots of historical information about Singer, (and a plug for their new machine, of course), but the real purpose of the site is to allow Singer owners to share their stories. As of the last count, there were over 1,200! The other thing that the website allows you to do is register you pre-1970 Singer machine by typing in the serial number and your name. Once you do that, you will be able to download a PDF certificate that shows the year your machine was "born". Here is the link: My Singer Story

My story is not nearly as compelling as many of the others that are posted. I don't come from a family of women who sewed. I don't have my grandmother's machine. I started sewing in college because I needed to make some clothes that were presentable for student teaching, but I never got into it much until my children were little. Again, it was mostly necessity that got me making clothes for the kids. I didn't start quilting until 6 years ago when my daughter decided she wanted Vera Bradley type bags for her bridesmaids, and I became PattiCakes, the Crazy Bag Lady.

One thing led to another. I bought a new Bernina, took some quilting classes at the store where I purchased it, and Pat, the ADQD* quilter was born. I kept hearing ladies in those classes talking about Featherweights. How great they were for traveling. What a nice stitch they made. How every serious quilter HAD to have one. DH, who is addicted to flea markets and antiques, got interested in them too. Here I thought he was just letting my ramblings about quilting and machines go in one ear and out the other. Au contraire!

The morning of our 32nd wedding anniversary, I came stumbling downstairs, looking for a cup of coffee, only to find Baby. She was sitting on top of an antique sewing stand and was sporting a big blue bow. I don't know what touched my heart more, the fact that I had been given this wonderful present or the fact that DH had actually LISTENED to my ramblings and gone out of his way to find this very very special present. My Bernina mostly lives in the sewing room, but it's Baby who goes to classes, retreats, quilt days with our quilting posse, to my kids' homes when I babysit, and on vacation. I even bought her a folding table so she can help me sit in front of the fireplace in the winter and sew. She was born in 1951, Singer's 100th anniversary, and is what's called a "centennial". Machines made during that year sported a special, blue-rimmed oval seal on the front to commemorate the milestone.

Now, of course, DH fancies himself somewhat of a FW guru, and is always on the look out for them when he's out prowling the markets. And I've turned into somewhat of an Evangelical Featherweighter, spreading the word of what great little machines they are.

Do you have an older Singer? What's YOUR story? Go check out the website and download your certificate. Thanks again to Happy Cottage Quilter for speading the word!

Thanks for sharing your story! Your DH did an amazing job! My parents are coming to visit this weekend and they are bringing a White rotary sewing machine that has been in my family. It was made in 1932 I believe. I don't know if it works or what shape it's in. I plan to do a post about it soon :-)

Here is a tip for you FW fans. I was always burning my hand on the light bulb on my machine. My hands are not exactly dainty, and that bulb burns really really hot. I found that my hand would end up hitting that hot bulb when I'd thread the machine or reach under the arm to grab something (like my snips) on the bed.

There is a fellow on eBay who sells LED replacement bulbs. They are 4-5 time more expensive than the standard bulb, but there are a lot of advantages over the original bulb: (1) it burns cool; (2) it is much brighter; and (3) it won't break apart when you try to remove it. After burning my hand one too many times, then cutting myself when the original bulb fell apart/shattered during removal, I bit the bullet and bought one of these. $39 (choke), but SO MUCH better! If his 100,000 hour life expectancy estimate is correct, I will never have to replace it. I think he may also have them for other types of machines.